In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten looks at Ezekiel chapters 8-9. This particular passage tells an eerie story of God showing Ezekiel the abominations and idolatries that are taking place in Judah, and what God is going to do about them.

If you don't fear God, you will fear man—whether that means craving the approval of man or fearing what man might do to you. Fearing man or death over and above God always leads to slavery. But if you fear God, you will fear little else. In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers the rescue of God's people through the Red Sea and how it was, by all human measures, a statistical and algorithmic impossibility for Egypt to be conquered and for Israel to be saved.

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers a couple of the specific ways that Jesus is mocked while being crucified and what those ways reveal to us about our sinful condition. What does Jesus mean when he says that he is "the way, and the truth, and the life?" (John 14:6)

It is worth considering why Jesus did not simply die a simple, clean, dignified death when he bore the sins of his people. Instead, Jesus dies the heinous death of crucifixion: an execution that aimed to remove any and all dignity of the person being executed. In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers a couple of the specific ways that Jesus is mocked while being crucified as well as what they reveal to us about our sinful condition.

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers the final plague in the Exodus story. In the warning to Pharoah, God makes it clear that this plague will come upon everyone from Pharaoh who sits upon the throne down to the slave girl who sits at the hand mill. Here, in this plague, we see how the holiness of God and his judgment comes upon all sinners without distinction. It doesn't matter if you are a king or if you are oppressed and marginalized. God's holiness is not satisfied by those conditions. Under his holiness, all sinners are leveled and the only distinction that matters is the blood of the Lamb.

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers the way that God leads his people like a father through the pillars of cloud and fire after the Exodus. This somewhat humorous and redundant passage reveals both the childhood of God's people and the Fatherhood of God. Children need instruction and here in this passage, God displays himself as a father that leads his children by the hand as they learn to walk. Once again, this passage reveals a reality that is ultimately fulfilled in the coming of Jesus who brings us into the family of God so we can call God our Father.

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers Mordecai in the story of Esther. This guy gets in trouble for refusing to pay homage to Haman. He's like the lone guy in the crowd in that famous photo who is not giving the "heil Hitler" sign. Thus begins the story of conflict between the Jews and Haman. When Haman complains to Ahasuerus he makes the point of calling out that "these Jews" follow a different law than the Persians. Here we learn where the conflict often lies between God's people and the world they live among: God's law.

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers a small word from the book of Isaiah. In this passage, Isaiah paints a picture of the adversaries of God as those who are trapped in a dream. In their dream, they believe they are healthy but in reality, they are starving and thirsty. How might shape the way we consider the adversaries of God?

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers the story of Shiphrah and Puah in Exodus chapter one. The slaughter of Hebrew boys could have been safe, rare, and legal if the midwives had only compromised and followed Pharaoh's direction. Instead, their rebellion leads to Pharaoh weaponizing his entire citizenry. What is God's response to their pragmatic oversight? Apparently, he blesses them. What might we glean from the story of these two brave midwives?

In this episode of Bible Thoughts, Pastor Rusten considers how the fear of God is key to living in the midst of tumultuous times. The idea that God should be feared above all else seems crazy to the world, but what the world doesn't realize is that the fear of God is the key to freedom and living in hope. The world stumbles on this, but this is a sanctuary for Christians.